Hey guys. I'm looking to get a Tacoma pretty soon and I was wondering if I could get some advice. I don't really know that much about cars, so I joined up here.

I've been looking at the Tacoma for a while and I've test drove both this and the Tacoma PreRunner and they seemed to be pretty much the same thing to me. Can someone give me a rundown of what exactly is different between the two. I would appreciate it a lot.

Well, I guess that leads to my next question. How much does that change the performance drastically? I'm really just want to go with the cheaper one that fits my needs. I do alot of metalworking in my spare time so mainly I'm hauling around a lot of metal scraps and stuff like that, but just in the bed, not in a trailer or anything.

The prerunner is a great truck and handles great offroading, even better with the rear locker. I do a large amount of offroading and have never had any issues with not having 4x4, now if you plan on doing swamp riding, or mudding, or driving in snow, you will do better to have a 4 wheel drive. Now hauling stuff will be absolutely fine with a prerunner, you can load it up and haul away pretty much the same amount, and towing is just the same.

i have a prerunner and do quite a bit of hauling (metal scrap too) both in the bed and with a trailer. It's worked great for me and i havent had any problems...i'm not sure but the 4x4 might have a little bit more hauling power plus you can really go off-roading with it.

Ive got the base model prerunner and I love it. sometimes it would be nice to have 4X4 but its not that big of a deal. if you do alot of hauling stuff in the bed you might want to go with the Long Bed.

I have a prerunner, but when i see these guys wheeling pics makes me wish i got a 4x4. One of the reasons i got the prerunner is cause with a 4x4 your mpg is usually lower cause of the extra weight (transfer case) and it is more expensive. To be honest if i could go back i would of got the 4x4 oh well its not that big of a deal.

Well, I guess that leads to my next question. How much does that change the performance drastically? I'm really just want to go with the cheaper one that fits my needs. I do alot of metalworking in my spare time so mainly I'm hauling around a lot of metal scraps and stuff like that, but just in the bed, not in a trailer or anything.

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dont go with "just the cheaper one". you'll be sorry later on down the road. Shell out the extra few dollars. Besides, this is a truck thats going to last 300K miles.

My first Tacoma was a 2006 Prerunner with the access cab. Great truck hauled lots of dirt and mulch. Only problem I had with it was that when it snowed here in Indiana got stuck several times in drive way wishing it was 4x4. But the last big snow we had here in Jan 09 was coming home from work and hit some ice and threw us into a concrete wall. My wife had small injuries but none for me. The poor truck took the hit. a solid truck. So here 2 weeks later bought my new 2009 Tacoma 4x4 DC with the sports package on it. Great truck 19 mpg and a very safe truck also.